New York City's Next Attraction Will Be...a $150 Million Stairway

First came the space-age Oculus, now the Vessel is set to arrive in New York City—a $150 million, 15-story public space in the form of a giant staircase. The public artwork, plans for which were unveiled at a ceremony Wednesday, has been designed by controversial British architect Thomas Heatherwick, and is slated to open to the public in 2018 in Manhattan’s Hudson Yards. A soaring 150-feet in height, the structure is comprised of interconnecting staircases that visitors will be able to climb up, and view (translate: Instagram) the city from.

Unsurprisingly, countless comparisons to the High Line, which provided a whole new way to see the city, are being made left, right and center. “The power of the High Line is the changed perspective on the world,” Heatherwick told the New York Times. Vessel is inspired by Indian step wells, ancient water structures comprised of hundreds of steps, says Heatherwick, and will have 150 staircases in total, 80 different landings, and 2,500 steps constructed from bronzed-steel and concrete made in Italy. The architect hopes to "lift people up to be more visible and to enjoy new views and perspectives of each other."

The beehive like interiors of Vessel.

Courtesy Forbes Massie

The oval structure resembles a sort of futuristic beehive, and visitors will be able to walk among acres of gardens featuring woodland plants and grove trees within it. There will also be a 200-foot long fountain mirroring the flow of the work’s neighbor: the Hudson River. As it stands, Vessel will be New York’s most ambitious urban development since the Rockefeller Centre.

Heatherwick is famed for his—sometimes madcap—designs: He was behind the 2012 Olympic “cauldron,” designed London’s new red routemaster bus in 2010, and the Seed Cathedral in Shanghai. But Heatherwick also has a track record of ambitious, yet unrealized projects: The Hong Kong tower resembling a stack of tumbling boxes he designed in 2012 still remains a pipe dream.

Once completed, Vessel, which Heatherwick says will be "something everybody could use, touch, [and] relate to," will also help act as a reservoir for storm water—and give New Yorkers and tourists visiting Hudson Yards a decent workout, too.